Long May She Reign
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings4
Average rating3.8
The Girl of Fire and Thorns meets The Queen of the Tearling in this thrilling fantasy standalone about one girl’s unexpected rise to power. Freya was never meant to be queen. Twenty-third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of the court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne. She may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, she knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom—and her life. Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisers. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her but also wanted more power for himself. As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown.
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It's King Jorgen's birthday celebration and all the members of the court are enjoying the party. Freya is a deceased noblewoman's daughter and very prone to anxiety when encountering crowds. When she starts getting a panic attack during the party, she and her best friend Naomi decide to take a ride back home to the safety of the lab. Unfortunately, the cake is poisoned and most of the court is dead, instantly elevating Freya from 23rd in line to the Queen. Now, she has to survive, find the actual murderers and win the acceptance of the people while trying to convince her detractors that she wasn't the culprit in the first place. For this task, she gets help from her new heir Madeleine and the dead king's illegitimate son Fitzroy. How she navigates all these tricky situations and comes out alive is the rest of the story.
I had hopes from this book because it had a lot going for it – the circumstances of her succession being quite similar to the premise of the show Designated Survivor was how I got interested; this was a stand-alone fantasy novel which is so hard to find; and I just wanted to read a new author (for me). Though this book had lot of potential, the plot was actually quite simple. There was no thrilling suspense regarding the search for the mass murderer and when the true culprit was found, it just seemed too simplistic. There was some conflict but it never seemed like there was any danger. Despite these problems, I really liked reading the book. Freya was such an introvert in the beginning, only finding solace in her science; but she has tremendous growth in the story and due to her genuine compassion, shows that she can be a good ruler, albeit a scientific one. There is very little romance and I kind of like that – fantasy novels becoming more romantic and less fantastic is quite disappointing to me and I was happy that this book didn't go that way. But the best part of the book was definitely its female friendships; especially Freya and Naomi and sometimes also Madeleine. Reading about the dynamic between the two best friends made me nostalgic and miss my best friend who I haven't seen in years. I really think more books need to have healthy female friendships where the girls bond over things other than boys. I just wished this book had a little more complicated plot; nevertheless, I finished it in one sitting and had a good time reading it. This might be a good recommendation for readers new to the fantasy genre.
A creative standalone fantasy. Part mystery with a bit of clean romance
I have been in a reading slump lately, and this book was all around impressive. There were fantasy aspects(teensy really), mystery, mass murder, and a very slight romance.
Freya is a timid, does not like big crowds, and is 23rd in line for the crown. Attending the King's latest feast is not only a waste of time in her eyes, but an egregious waste of food. She and her best friend, Naomi, make an escape as soon as they can! To where? Her home lab! Ah, a girl after my own heart. She is running home experiments, keeping meticulous notes, on how to... ok its not really important. What is important, is I loved her. She stays true to her scientist roots throughout the whole novel. Anyways, her dad bursts in, and drops the bomb, everyone at court was poisoned, and Freya is now queen, and must be protected, and Naomi is also in line and cannot go looking for her brother. Sad face!
The bulk of this book is Freya experimenting, trying to come up with a test for arsenic, so that tasters do not have to taste for this in food. Good idea Freya! Seriously, I love this girl. She becomes close to people from the old court who survived, and there are betrayals. But, because Freya is insistent on needing proof of guilt, she rules with an even head, even when she feels personally slighted by someone. Once in a while Freya comes off as kind of meek, but I think in the end she really shines, her strengths aren't typical of that of a female lead, and she and strong friends and allies to back her up.
One more thing I liked about this book, it is a standalone! Yay! I would suggest this, I breezed through it in a few hours which lately has been pretty difficult for me to do.
